Smash and grab burglar flees — 1 block in 1 hour

This guy hadn’t read the chapter in the “Criminals Handbook” that once you do the crime, you get away.

Far away.

Police say a man they believe broke into a downtown convenience story to steal some cigarettes early Friday morning has been arrested — an hour later and a block away from the convenience store.

The criminal mastermind allegedly began his spree just before 4 a.m. by using a cinder block to break the front door of Joe’s Mart at Second Avenue and Pike Street. He went behind the counter and took some smokes.

He should have quit years ago.

A burglar alarm was going off, and the man spent less than 15 seconds in the store. Still, it was long enough for surveillance cameras to record what he was doing.

The owner of Joe’s and an officer reviewed the surveillance images.

Police found what they think is their man in the 1500 block of Third Avenue. The 59-year-old was booked into jail.